Paper Hearts
by Faeruy
Summary: Written for a DAWC challenge; choose an offbeat or unexpected hobby for any character.  This one is Isabela, with paper-folding, backstory, and a challenge of her own. One-shot


Isabela was drunk. Not that this was an unusual occurrence but it must be said that Isabela was currently intoxicated. It wasn't a blackout 'Maker what did I do last night' kind of drunk, more of a pleasant befuddlement. She was giddy, and the room was hazy.

"Alright Rivaini, prove it." Varric demanded, slamming his mug down on the table.

"Prove what?" A wisp of a thought tugged at her mind. She remembered making some boast that encouraged people to buy her drinks but now for the life of her she couldn't remember what that was.

"You said you could make a bird out of paper, Isabela." Merrill chimed in softly.

"Drunk and blindfolded." added Fenris, rather nastily; to her addled brain, it sounded like a challenge. She had been leaning back in her chair, with Fenris's voice, she sat straight up.

"Fine. I'll prove it. Anybody got a square piece of paper?" Hawke pulled some paper out of her bag and handed it to the pirate wench. Rectangular, unfortunately, so Isabela quickly folded corner to edge and tore off the excess. It wasn't pretty but at least she could work with it now.

"Blindfold." the dwarf reminded her. She pulled the scarf off of her head and tied it around her eyes, making sure she didn't drop the precious piece of paper in the meantime. She held out her arms when she finished.

"There, blindfolded. Can't see a thing. Happy now?"

"No." Varric grumbled, "It's your scarf. How do I know it's not see-through? How many fingers am I holding up?" She thought she saw a shadow in front of her face but she couldn't make anything out.

"Three. Honestly dwarf, I can't see shit. If it makes you feel better, I'll put my hands under the table too."

"No, leave them out. It's safer if we can all see what your hands are doing." Isabela grinned in the direction of the voice; the gruff, angry, female sound. Good, she could show up Aveline too. She toyed with the paper in her hands, feeling for the edges and corners. She made the first fold, corner to corner and her blurry mind drifted back as muscle memory took over.

* * *

><p>"Now open your eyes, lovely". The smooth, dark voice sent shivers up her spine and she obeyed immediately. Directly in front of her vision was a small bird made out of delicately patterned paper. She looked up from the bird to the grinning young man holding it.<p>

"For me?" she said greedily. He nodded; she deftly snatched it out of his hand and turned it over and over, inspecting it. "Did you make this? It's adorable!" It wasn't realistic but so beautiful that it was hard to believe it came from a single little square of paper. The man just chuckled at her wonder and watched.

Pietro was a sailor, native to Llomerryn. His skin was tanned golden-brown and it looked weathered; though he was young, he had been on the seas a long time. Isabela was drawn to his dark, gentle eyes and his strong callused hands. As he continued to laugh his black hair flopped down over his eyes; he looked roguish and to Isabela he was irresistible. She set the bird down and grabbed his face in both hands, kissing him hard on the mouth. He pulled her into his lap, the bird all but forgotten.

* * *

><p>Isabela smiled at the memory as her fingers creased and folded the paper. He had taught her how to make figures out of paper, among other things, and in return she...<p>

No, she wouldn't think about that tonight. Tonight was for friends and fun, and getting Varric to pay for the next round of drinks. She made the final fold, bending the neck down into itself to create the head and beak. She pulled the wings apart and she was finished.

"Ta-da!" she shouted triumphantly, whipping the scarf off of her eyes. She was slightly nonplussed that the conversation had turned elsewhere while she was busy being clever. She tapped the dwarf on the shoulder; when he turned around, his eyes widened.

"Damn it Rivaini, I didn't think you could actually do it!" He snapped his fingers and the server came by. "Next round's on me I guess." He took the little bird from her hand and inspected it closely before passing it around the circle. She was pleased to notice even Aveline and Sebastian looked impressed.

"How did you learn to do a thing like that?" Merrill asked.

"A friend taught me, kitten," Not for the world would she tell her friends about Pietro; she loved them all, but Pietro was... "it kept my hands busy when it was bad manners to play with daggers, so I got good. Started winning drinks with that trick, ooh, about three years back." She grinned at the dwarf's look of dismay. "You never stood a chance, Varric. I always cheat." She downed the pint the server placed in front of her and normal conversation resumed around the table, this time about some errand the Viscount sent Hawke on. Apparently Merrill, Fenris and Anders had gone along for the ride, and apparently it got messy. Not unusual; anything that Hawke was involved with invariably got messy. Sounded like fun though. Isabela wished she had been there.

She took to her room that night some blond guard that had stopped by to check on Aveline and ended up staying for a drink or two. Not who she wanted to end the evening with but the fish she was aiming for wasn't biting and she was having far to much fun to end up alone that night. She and her guard had a good time, she sent him packing anyway and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Open your eyes, lovely." Pietro, that same smooth voice, but this time... this time there was a hint of nervousness, a catch that wasn't there before. Isabela wondered why. She opened her eyes. In his rough hands there was a paper rose. A difficult and intricate piece, she knew. He'd shown her how to do it once but her attempt looked like crumpled garbage next to this exquisite, almost life-like rose. She held out her hand and Pietro placed it carefully in her open palm. It was oddly heavy.<p>

"Look in the center, there's a surprise inside." His spoke quickly, agitatedly. His eyes searched hers; looking for something. What it was, she didn't know. She fingered the rose open and there, in the very center, was a ring. Her head shot up and looked straight into his dark eyes, so full of hope.

"Marry me Isabela. I want to sail the world with you. I want to taste the waves with you, always. I want... I want... I just want you Isabela, forever. Marry me." She made no reply at first, only twirled the ring around in one hand and stared at the rose in the other.

"No."

* * *

><p>Isabela sat up sharply. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. No, no, no, this wasn't right. It was a good night, why is this in her mind now? She untangled herself from the sheets and went to the little desk near her bed. A single paper rose sat in the corner. Her mind was racing. She needed to do something, anything. She clearly wasn't going back to sleep tonight. She pulled some paper from a stack.<p>

* * *

><p>When Aveline woke the next morning, she felt something wasn't right. Something had changed in her room, somebody had been in her room. Her heart started to pound and she reached for her sword next to her bed. Careful not to disturb Donnic, she crept out of bed. She tiptoed to the door. It was when she looked down that she saw it. A tiny figure with a note attached. Aveline carefully picked it up and peered at it. It was tiny penis made out of paper.<p>

** A -  
><strong>** I hope Donnic's is bigger!  
><strong>** Love, I**

Aveline breathed a sigh of relief, and then chuckled. Looks like someone was going to get arrested for breaking and entering today.

All around Kirkwall, Hawke's friends were waking up to find they were the victims of a very odd burglary. Merrill got a dolphin and an invitation to go see the real ones when Isabela got a boat. Anders found a cat with a note that said it's name was Ser Pounce-a-lot. Fenris got a dragon and a sweet memory of a time they killed a dragon together. Bethany up in the Circle received a small tulip and a promise to come visit when it was convenient. For Sebastian, a model of the female genitalia and a reminder of what he was missing, being a Chantry brother and all. Varric woke up and found a qunari with a sword, and a note that said to use it as target practice. They all shook their heads and smiled at their gift from the pirate thief.

Hawke woke up that morning, a bit hung over. At least the bed in the Hightown estate was comfortable, but an ale-headache was never fun. Blinking, she looked at the nightstand. A single rose sat alone. She stared at it until she could focus, and only then realized that it was paper. There was nothing else, no note, no nothing. There didn't need to be.

Headache be damned, Hawke leapt out of bed and into some fresh clothes. She sprinted towards Lowtown and into the Hanged Man. Isabela was sitting at one of the tables, playing around with a bit of eggs and sausage on her plate. She startled when she saw Hawke barge in and stood quickly. Hawke practically skipped over and threw her arms around Isabela, pinning her so she couldn't move.

"Thank you, my friend." She whispered in the Rivaini's ear. Having done that, Hawke sat down across in an empty seat and called for a plate of eggs. It took the stunned Isabela a moment to recover herself but then she sat down to breakfast with her friend. Friend. It wasn't exactly what she wanted, but... it was enough. For now.


End file.
